lament for a lost lover and the queen bee.

yesterday my husband and i, along with our friend dawn, visited a local church charity drive book fair. we visited the second day they were open and everything looked pretty picked through. i find with books sales (at least in this area,) the book dealers get there first thing and snap up a lot of goodies. however, i still got a good lot. i was really drawn to these painterly-style covers. i admit they do remind me of my childhood. mostly i am drawn to nostalgic items. i'm not sure the quality of the stories, but i do like the covers.

lament for a lost lover by philippa carr a.k.a. eleanor hibbert
book club edition, 1977, g.p. putnam's sons, new york
jacket illustration is by charles geer

the queen bee by edna lee
book club edition, 1950, appleton-century-crofts, inc., new york
the illustrator isn't credited, although there seems to be a signature reading be(i,a)nyé? unfortunately, i wasn't able to find any information.

an interesting aside. apparently my grandfather's step-mother was a major b*tch. she was also a member of a popular (high-end) department store family. anyways, my grandparents referred to her as "the queen bee," after this book. i love it when good book finds have quirky stories attached to them. i find it interesting that both of these books are book club editions. i'm thinking that book clubs gravitated toward covers with a romantic vibe to better market them to women. not that that is what women were (or are) all about.